Improvement in sewing-machines



G. w. HUBBARD.

Sewing Machine.

Patented Dec. 22, 1857.

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N. PETERS. Pnnwmho mr, Waltzing Yon. D. c.

UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE XV. HUBBARD, OF VEST MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 18,904, dated December29, 1.857.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, G. \V. HUBBARD, of \Vest Meriden, in the county ofNew Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Sewing- Maehines; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which- Figure l is a front view of a machine with myimprovements, with the table on which the material to be sewed issupported, in section. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section at rightangles to Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the table, the needle, andthe looper. Figs. 4 and 5 are front views, illustrating the constructionand operation of the needle.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

This invention consists in a forked needle, constructed and operating ashereinafter described, with a single thread, to produce what is known asa chain-stitch seam.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproced to describe its construction and operation.

A is a stand, to which all the working parts of the machine areattached.

E is the table, on which the material 1) to be sewed (shown in greyoutlines) is supported during the operation.

F is the spring-pressure pad, for confiningthe material to the table E,secured to the stand.

B is the needle-bar, to the lower end of which is attached the needle C,the said bar being fitted to slide vertically in guides a (I, attachedto the stand, and having a cross-head, 1), containing a transversestaight slot, 1), to receive a pin, a, which is arranged eccentricallyupon a disk, D, that is attached to the front end of the horizontal mainshaft I. The rotary motion of the pin 0 in the slot b produces areciprocating motion of the needle-bar. The forked needle C has oneprong, (1, longer than the other one, 0, the longer prong, (I, being astraight continuation of the stem of the needle, and terminating in asharp point, and the shorter prong, 0, being slightly curved outward andpointed at its extremity, which in clines toward the prong J, but doesnot touch the latter prong until pressed against it, and springs awayfrom it again as soon as left'free. The normal condition of the needleis represented in Figs. 1 and 5, and Fig. 4 shows it with the forkclosed by pressure against the prong e.

The spring-pressure pad F, which is made with its foot-piece muchthicker than those generally used in other machines, has an opening, f,in the front, through which and through an opening, q, in the table Ebelow,

the needle works, and on one side of this opening f,there is arranged astationary presser, n, with which the prong 0 comes incontact in itsdescent before the point of the said prong arrives at the material, andby which the point of the said prong c is forced into contact with theprong d, to enable the said prong to. pass through the hole which hasbeen made in the material by the prong d.

The presser a consists of a screw with along taper headscrewedhorizontally into the pressure-pad so far as to bring oppositethe needle such portion of the taper head as is of the proper size tocause the prong e to close. On that side of the opening f in thepressure-pad next which the long prong (Z of the needle works there is aslight recess for the needle to work in, said recess serving not only asa guide to the needle, but to enable it to pass behind the thread, aswill be presently explained, and the front and lower portion of the sameside of the said opening f is beveled, as shown at i in Figs. 1 and 2,and indicated by a dotted line in Fig. 3. At the back of the opening fin the foot-piece there is an eye, g, through which the thread isconducted to the needle from a spool, '71, which is arranged to rotateon a stationary axle, 7', attached to the stand A.

G is the feeder,consisting of alevcr attached to the front of the standA by a stationary ful cram-pin, k, and having its lower extremityserrated in such a way as to take hold of the material upon the tableand move it along when a vibratorymovement is given to the lever. Thelever is fitted to its fulcrum-pin with a slot, which allows it to moveup and down thereon, as well as vibrate, and in the upper arm of thelever there is a slot, at, which receives a pin, Z, that is attached tothe crosshead, the said slot being a little shorter than the stroke ofthe crosshead produced by the revolution of the pin 0, and beingstraight for the whole of its length, except a portion at and near itsupper end, which is curved. The action of the pin Z in the slot m of thelever has the effect of giving the lever a longitudinal or verticalmotion as well as a vibrating motion. As the pin Z descends it strikesthe bottom of the slot and pushes the lever down longitudinally farenough to bring the serrated end into contact with the material on thetable E, and as it rises it produces no movement of the lever till itreaches the curved upper portion of the slot, when it moves it in thedirection of the arrow 6, (shown near the lower end in Fig. 1,) andcauses the serrated lower end of the lever to movethe material, and asthe pin Zstrikes the upper end of the slot it lifts up the leverlongitudinally and removes it from contact with the material. As the pinZ descends again,

-the serrated lower end into contact with the cloth again, as abovedescribed, and the lever remains stationary inthis latter conditionuntil the pin ascends to the curved part of the slot, when it operates,as before described, to move the cloth again.

The operation of the needle to make the stitches is as follows: The endof the thread from the spool h, which is shown in red color,

is conducted through the eye 9 from the back of the pressure-pad and ledby the fingers of the operator round that side of the opening f of thepressure-pad against which the long prong of the needle works. The shaftI is then set in motion to operate the needle, and as the needledescends the point of the prong (1 passes between the thread and theadjacent side of the opening f, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, followed bythe prong e, which passes on the opposite side of the thread,which isthus brought within the fork of the needle. The prong e,

means the thread is taken through the cloth in pletes its ascent, thoughnot till the latter has been withdrawn from the material p, and theloop,which up to that time has hung vertically below the material in theposition in which the needle left it, is drawn by the feed movement overthe edge of the opening q, and thus caused to be thrown up to a positionnearly parallel with the face of the material 12, as shown in Fig. 4, sothat the needle in its neXt descent may pass through it and carrythrough it the newloop. The feed movement of-the material 19 draws thethread which is between the upper surface of the cloth and the eye 9againstthe beveled corner '5 of the opening f in the pressurepad, andthe form of this corner tends to throw it forward, so as to leave moreroom for theprong d of the needle to pass behind-it on its neXt descent,and thus insure the operation of forming the loop. The repetition of theabove operation produces the seam,which may be continued to anindefinite length.

Having thus described my invention, I will proceed to state what I claimand desire to secure by Letters Patent:

The forked needle, constructed and operating, substantially asdescribed, to enchain the loops on the opposite side of the cloth orother material to that on which it enters.

GEORGE WV. HUBBARD.

Witnesses:

- M1011. HUGHES,

W. Tusorr.

